Stephen, who is now fundraising with his wife to pay for intense physio to improve Poppy’s mobility said: “Macey blew a raspberry on her belly and suddenly Poppy started laughing. We couldn’t believe it.

“Now we firmly believe Poppy will walk and talk again, as she’s been a fighter since the moment she was born.”

On December 17, 2014, Poppy was born at 29 weeks, weighing just 2lb.

After spending three months on a neo natal ward, she was allowed home, weighing 4lb 6oz.

But her parents noticed that she often dribbled her food and she was diagnosed with Moebius syndrome – which means the muscles in her face don’t work properly.

Although doctors warned that Poppy’s development could be delayed and she may never walk or talk normally, she proved them wrong, hitting most of her milestones.

Stephen said: “They said that she might not walk or talk, but she started walking at 15 months, which is quite average for a premature baby. It was amazing to see her doing all those things

“We managed to get her off her feeding tube around her first birthday and throughout 2016, she was just getting better every day.”
She had a few hospital admissions, for respiratory problems, but doctors were really pleased with Poppy’s progress, as she approached her second birthday in December 2016.

Then, just days before she turned two, when her Amy went to wake her up, she couldn’t get her to come round.

Stephen said: “We could feel her heartbeat, but she was unresponsive. We knew there was something seriously wrong. She was breathing but she was sort of gasping for air.”

She was blue lighted to Barrow In Furness General Hospital , where they tried to stabilise her, before transferring her for more specialised treatment at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

The next day, Poppy improved and so much she was taken off the ventilator.

But two days later, on her second birthday, her parents noticed something wasn’t right.

Poppy was blue-lighted to hospital in December 2016, and doctors gave her a slim chance of survival(Photo: PA Real Life)

“Her eyes were starting to roll to the back of her head,” said Stephen. “A chest x-ray showed that her lungs were full of fluid and she had another respiratory arrest.

“That night she started to develop twitches and seizures. She was deteriorating fast.”

Two days later, an MRI scan revealed some devastating results.

Stephen added: “When she came back from the scan, doctors took us into a side room and said she had severe hypoxic brain damage.

“I asked if she was going to walk or talk again, but they said they didn’t even know if she was going to survive. When it started to sink in, it was heartbreaking.

“They told us we had to wait and see, but it wasn’t looking good. I just wanted them to tell me that she was going to be ok.”

Medics were able to get Poppy breathing on her own again, but she was still unresponsive.

“She couldn’t feel anything and wasn’t responding to a torch being shone in her eyes,” Stephen said. “We held her, but she was just staring right through us. I’ve never felt pain like that in my life. The heartache was unreal.”

The family, including Poppy’s sisters Elisha, now 14, Macey and brother Alfie, 11, spent Christmas together in the hospital, thinking it could be Poppy’s last.

Stephen explained: “We went to midnight mass on Christmas Eve and lit candles for her. I asked the priest if he could come and give her a blessing.”

Poppy, here around 12 months old(Photo: PA Real Life)

On Christmas day , Poppy was moved to a High Dependency Unit and the whole family visited to wish her a happy Christmas.

Stephen explained: “That was the amazing moment when she laughed, as Macey blew a raspberry on her belly.

“It was astonishing. We found out afterwards that it wasn’t uncommon for people in this state to show emotion, but to us it seemed like she was responding.

“Then there were little twitches on her arms and legs. Doctors said it could be spinal reflexes, but I felt like it was so much more.”

Doctors were baffled by Poppy’s remarkable recovery and day by day, she slowly improved – learning to speak and crawl all over again.

“The doctors are baffled. They say that she shouldn’t be doing what she is doing. They are so glad she is, but they didn’t think she would. She’s proving them all wrong.”

Now, the family are fundraising around £6,000 to pay for two weeks of intense physio at the Cosmosuit Rehabilitation Unit in Italy, as they believe they must work quickly to try to help Poppy return to normal.

“We want to get more physio for her earlier rather than later, because we think the sooner we do, the more of her mobility we can save.” said Stephen.

“Our hospital has been great, but it is small and they don’t have the facilities to give her that sort of treatment. She only has one physio session a week.